{"id":360611,"date":"2026-03-27T07:48:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T07:48:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/360611\/"},"modified":"2026-03-27T07:48:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T07:48:13","slug":"taking-kharg-island-is-seen-as-key-to-opening-hormuz-there-are-better-options","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/360611\/","title":{"rendered":"Taking Kharg Island is seen as key to opening Hormuz. There are better options"},"content":{"rendered":"

The future of the war in Iran is increasingly focused on less than 9 square miles of coral outcrop in the Persian Gulf.<\/p>\n

Kharg Island, which lies about 30 kilometers (19 miles) off the Iranian mainland and 500 kilometers (300 miles) northwest of the Strait of Hormuz, is the export terminal for 90 percent of Iran\u2019s oil shipments.<\/p>\n

The island could also be the path US President Donald Trump sees to reopening the strait.<\/p>\n

Four weeks into the US-Israeli campaign against the Islamic Republic, the flow of energy through Hormuz has become a major issue. By striking and threatening shipping, Iran is trying to drive up costs for countries across the globe and for US voters to raise pressure on Trump to end the war.<\/p>\n

It might be working. On Monday, Trump dropped a bombshell announcement that his administration was engaged in \u201cvery good\u201d talks with Iran regarding a \u201ccomplete and total resolution\u201d of the war.<\/p>\n

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Since then, he and his administration have given conflicting accounts on how likely a deal is. US special envoy Steve Witkoff said on Thursday there are \u201cstrong signs\u201d the US will be able to convince Iran that it has no better option than to accept Washington\u2019s 15-point plan for ending the war.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"
\n\t\tThis handout image taken by the European Space Agency, captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite, shows a view of Iran\u2019s Kharg Island, which hosts the country\u2019s main crude export terminal and is responsible for the overwhelming majority of its oil shipments to the world, about 30 kilometers south of the mainland in the north of the Gulf, on March 7, 2026. (European Space Agency\/AFP)<\/p>\n

Trump is expressing more skepticism about those chances three days after he indicated a deal was close. \u201cI don\u2019t know if we\u2019ll be able to do that,\u201d he said in opening remarks at a cabinet meeting.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m the opposite of desperate to make a deal. I don\u2019t care!\u201d he insisted. \u201cWe have other targets we want to hit before we leave.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of those targets could be Kharg Island.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the strategic chessboard of this war, Kharg Island is the next piece,\u201d former defense minister Yoav Gallant wrote<\/a> in The Free Press. \u201cIt may be the move that decides the conflict. If it is going to be made, it must be made now.\u201d<\/p>\n

The US enjoys overwhelming military advantages, but there are significant risks to taking the strategic site. American forces would be an enticing target, and there are other ways to pressure the regime by cutting off its oil sales.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"
\n\t\tA map of the Gulf showing the Strait of Hormuz and the ports of Jask and Kharg Island in Iran. (Laurence Saubadu\/AFP)<\/p>\n

Still, if talks don\u2019t pan out, that is where the war could be heading.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I expect to see is further escalation, which would probably involve some kind of military operations carried out by the United States, this time using boots on the ground,\u201d said Raz Zimmt, Iran scholar at the Institute for National Security Studies.<\/p>\n

Taking the island<\/p>\n

Trump has not publicly ruled out the option of taking Kharg, a move he advocated during the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s.<\/p>\n

He told The Guardian in a 1988 interview that should he ever become US president, \u201cI\u2019d be harsh on Iran. They\u2019ve been beating us psychologically, making us look like a bunch of fools. One bullet shot at one of our men or ships and I\u2019d do a number on Kharg Island. I\u2019d go in and take it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\"\"
\n\t\tIn this handout photo from the U.S. Navy, the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Bataan travels through the Atlantic Ocean on July 20, 2023. (Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Danilo Reynoso\/U.S. Navy, via AP)<\/p>\n

Taking the island, many believe, would force Iran to accept US terms.<\/p>\n

The idea is that Iran\u2019s economy \u2014 already in dire straits \u2014 would effectively collapse if it couldn\u2019t export oil by cutting its main revenue stream. That would likely leave the regime with little choice other than to back down and open the strait before either society falls apart, or Iran\u2019s people decide they\u2019ve had enough and try to overthrow the regime themselves.<\/p>\n

While there is no evidence that Trump has decided to take the island, the military assets that would enable him to do so are on the way.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"
\n\t\tUS Marines during a training exercise in mainland Japan, on December 8, 2020. (US Marine Corps\/Cpl. Levi J. Guerra)<\/p>\n

A source familiar with the planning told CNN that a significant number of troops would be needed to take the island. The US has deployed 1,000 paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division and 5,000 Marines toward the Gulf, with the Marines traveling on the USS Tripoli, an assault ship that could play a key role in a potential attack on Kharg.<\/p>\n

Some believe that taking the island wouldn\u2019t pose much of a problem.<\/p>\n

\u201cA combination of Marines, Army airborne troops, and special operations forces could likely seize Kharg Island relatively quickly, though naval assets would encounter Iranian threats in transit to the island,\u201d according to<\/a> Ryan Probst and Cameron McMillan of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.<\/p>\n

Others are more cautious.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\tThis undated picture released by the official website of the Iranian Army on Friday, Oct. 1, 2021, shows ground forces troops attending a maneuver near the Iranian border with Azerbaijan (Iranian Army via AP)<\/p>\n

US officials and military experts have warned of significant casualty risks, emphasizing that the island is heavily fortified with layered defenses and that Iran had recently reinforced it with additional shoulder-fired, surface-to-air guided missile systems known as MANPADS, sources told CNN.<\/p>\n

Tehran has been laying traps, moving military personnel and boosting air defenses amid fears of an American plan to take control of the island, according to the report.<\/p>\n

Gallant, who commanded Israel\u2019s elite\u00a0Shayetet 13\u00a0naval commando unit, called an amphibious assault on a defended shore \u201cone of the most demanding operations in modern warfare.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tDefense Minister Yoav Gallant (right) with Brig. Gen. Yotam Sigler at the Nevatim air force base in southern Israel, October 6, 2024. (Elad Malka\/Defense Ministry)<\/p>\n

\u201cMilitaries study landings like Normandy for a reason,\u201d he wrote. \u201cThey require precise coordination across sea, air, and land domains, and they leave the first waves of troops exposed if combat power does not quickly build ashore. Success depends on integrating helicopters and fixed\u2011wing aircraft, landing craft, ground forces, intelligence, and constant protection against missile and drone attacks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, the US would enjoy advantages most landing forces don\u2019t have. The US controls the air and would be able to strike any Iranian soldiers on the island foolish enough to try to stop a landing.<\/p>\n

It also rules the sea. The Iranian navy is destroyed, and the Islamic Republic would not be able to move reinforcements to the island.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"
\n\t\tA UAE navy vessel patrols next to cargo ships and oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz as seen from Khor Fakkan, United Arab Emirates, March 11, 2026. (AP\/Altaf Qadri)<\/p>\n

Real dangers to the troops would come after the initial invasion.<\/p>\n

Iran would turn the US presence on the key island into a priority target and focus its firepower there. Iran has been hit hard, but still retains the ability to fire drones and missiles, including daily barrages at Israel and the United Arab Emirates.<\/p>\n

Unlike Israel, Kharg is in\u00a0range<\/a> of Iranian rocket artillery, as well as multiple types of suicide drones.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\tIn this photo released by the Iranian Army on Aug. 25, 2022, a drone is launched from a warship in a military drone drill in Iran. (Iranian Army via AP)<\/p>\n

In its four-year-long war with Ukraine, Russia has leaned heavily<\/a> on suicide drones, a cheap, mass-produced weapon that can find and destroy military and civilian targets. Iran has been a major supplier of Shahed drones, which Russia has used to saturate targets, including fuel depots and power stations.<\/p>\n

Moscow uses waves of the relatively inexpensive drones to overwhelm defenses, and Russian troops have also used them with precision in combination with intelligence drones to attack Ukrainian artillery.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"
\n\t\tMembers of the Ukrainian Territorial Defense Forces point their rifles at a possible drone near a residential building hit by debris from a downed rocket in Kyiv on March 20, 2022. (Fadel Senna \/ AFP)<\/p>\n

Iran is likely to use similar tactics against US troops.<\/p>\n

With Iran under attack, the flow of drones has shifted.\u00a0Russia began delivering drones to Iran this month and is set to complete the phased shipment of the equipment by the end of the month, the\u00a0Financial Times reported<\/a>, citing Western intelligence assessments.<\/p>\n

To deal with the drone and artillery threat, the US will have to shift considerable air assets to hunting mobile launchers and storage sites along the coast.<\/p>\n

Delayed effects<\/p>\n

There are other reasons that a Kharg invasion isn\u2019t the magic bullet some think it is.<\/p>\n

Iran is reportedly selling over 1.5 million barrels a day during the war, and enjoying a windfall from the spike in prices and sharp drop in competition. Taking that revenue stream from the regime would hurt it, but not immediately.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"
\n\t\tIranian oil tanker Sabiti travels through the Red Sea on October 11, 2019. (Shana via AP)<\/p>\n

When Trump pulled out of the JCPOA nuclear deal in 2018, Iranian oil exports dropped<\/a> from 2.5 million barrels per day to less than 500,000.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey managed to survive so it could take several weeks or even months until Iran will have to face the economic implications of taking control over Kharg Island,\u201d said Zimmt.<\/p>\n

Iran could continue for weeks or months attacking shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, and striking energy infrastructure in Gulf states before the economic pain brings it to its knees.<\/p>\n

And there are plenty of other, less risky ways to deny Iran the ability to export gas, if that is the leverage Trump wants to use. It wouldn\u2019t be very hard to stop ships carrying Iranian oil in the Persian Gulf or out in the Arabian Sea. The US could also steadily destroy Iranian facilities on the island from the air as long as Tehran refuses to meet US terms, or at least reopen the Strait.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"
\n\t\tThis image provided by US Central Command shows a F\/A-18E Super Hornet making an arrested landing on the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) in support of Operation Epic Fury on March 2, 2026. (US Navy via AP)<\/p>\n

Moreover, reaching a deal with the Islamic Republic might be missing a historic opportunity.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you could actually deny them that oil export, it would likely mean we\u2019ve so degraded the regime\u2019s threat capacity that we don\u2019t fear for our own force protection whether on or near Kharg,\u201d said Richard Goldberg, senior adviser at FDD.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt that point, it would make more sense to use that leverage to bring down the rump regime over the months ahead rather than trade it away but keep a radical regime.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The future of the war in Iran is increasingly focused on less than 9 square miles of coral…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":360612,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-360611","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/360611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=360611"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/360611\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/360612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=360611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=360611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=360611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}